PwC to buy Booz & Co. to create an even bigger consulting giant

PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the largest consulting companies on the planet, hopes to get bigger by acquiring Booz & Co., PwC said Wednesday morning.

Update: The larger of the two companies, PwC, remains one of the remaining big eight accounting firms and had revenue of about $32 billion for its fiscal year ending June 30, 2012. Booz has an estimated $1 billion in revenue. PWC fields an array of services including management consulting, accounting and tax services but also IT consulting. Booz offers enterprise strategy consulting as well as digital technology services.

Some 300 Booz partners will vote on the deal in December, and if they approve it , will join PwC’s $9 billion advisory business, according to the Financial Times.

Booz & Company was once part of what is now Booz Allen Hamilton, but spun out in 2008 and the two entities are no longer affiliated.

This deal is seen as a sign of consolidation in IT and general consulting businesses. This summer Accenture, another consulting giant, was reportedly interested in acquiring Booz & Co. PwC has been rebuilding its IT consulting business since selling that arm to IBM for $3.5 billion in 2005.

Note: This story was updated at 7:56 a.m. PDT to reflect PwC’s emphasis on management consulting and to correct the spelling of PWC to PwC.